


How Like an Angel

by Skerda



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabbles, Fluff, M/M, a whole lotta fluff, maybe some angst i dunno yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 04:41:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8042962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skerda/pseuds/Skerda
Summary: A series of drabbles and short fics inspired by words from other-wordly on Tumblr. Mostly fluff, but possibly some angsty goodness later on.Second chapter: NatsukashiiNatsukashii 懐かしい:(adj.) of some small thing that brings you suddenly, joyously back to fond memories, not with a wistful longing for what’s past, but with an appreciation of the good times





	1. Gökotta

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone check out http://other-wordly.tumblr.com/ if you haven't already! It's an amazing blog.

_Gökotta: (n.) lit. “dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong”; the act of rising in the early morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature_

 

Magnus opened a portal straight into Alec’s room. Alec sat up in bed, blinking, not even bothering to try covering his chest with a sheet. They’d been dating for two short months, but already he’d learned that the High Warlock of Brooklyn enjoyed making an entrance. He’d also learned that when Magnus was grinning at him in that slightly deranged way, it didn’t bode well for anyone.

“What,” he asked, unable to hide his trepidation, “are you up to?”

Magnus inched towards him, moving on the balls of his feet in that way he did sometimes, like he was on the verge of dancing. His exaggerated leer was only partially hidden by shadow.  

“I can’t just want to see you, my darling?”

“So instead of looking at one of the millions of photos of me you have squirrelled away on your phone, you decided you’d come stare at me while I sleep?”

Magnus laughed, and even somnolent and fuzzy with sleep, the sound brought an automatic smile to Alec’s face. The past two months had also taught him to love that laugh.

He grabbed the corner of his sheet and flicked it back lazily, leaving one side of the bed open. A clear invitation. Although he was curious as to how Magnus had portalled past the wards, he found he wasn’t awake enough to be _really_ curious. And Magnus did look distractingly gorgeous in the dim light, backlit as he was by the sky outside his window, which was beginning to glow with the first touch of dawn.

Fully expecting Magnus to slide in beside him, he was shocked when instead he was gripped by the ankle and dragged unceremoniously from the bed. His departure wasn’t pretty; he took half the duvet and a pillow down to the floor with him.

“What the fuck?”

There were some things he evidently still had to learn about his boyfriend. Like, for example, why he was so against sleeping. He was always dragging Alec out to parties, out to late bars, completely disregarding the basic human function like it didn’t apply to either of them. Groaning, Alec twisted on the floor until he had his duvet mostly around him again.

“Okay, I’ll forgive you for that. If you, y’know, either get down here or leave me alone.”

“Oh, hush,” Magnus said, sounding annoyingly amused. “You’ll like what I have planned, I promise. Everyone else is asleep, so we have to move quickly before we’re caught.”

“Magnus…” he was trying to sound firm and unmovable, but already he could feel himself caving. There was something about the warlock’s voice when he was trying to be persuasive that Alec found very hard to resist. He sighed to himself, taking one last moment to curl up in the warmth of his duvet. His limbs were still aching from the previous day’s training; he wasn’t sure he was even capable of standing up, whatever Magnus was insisting upon. Aside from that, it was some unholy hour of the morning. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Magnus wanted them to do. Or _why_ , for that matter.

“If I get up and we do this…whatever it is, can we come back to bed afterwards?”

Magnus beamed. “Of course! Atta boy, I knew you’d say yes eventually.”

There followed several minutes of what Alec regarded as sheer stupidity; Magnus insisted on wrapping Alec up in one of his sheets like a burrito, and then tried to squeeze his way inside so that his back was to Alec’s chest, and Alec’s chin could rest comfortably on his head. Alec sighed again, feeling very put-out, but slid his arms agreeably around his boyfriend’s waist.

“This is ridiculous,” he grumbled. Magnus didn’t reply, too busy trying to smother his laughter with a corner of the sheet. Alec watched as the warlock disentangled a hand from the mess they’d gotten themselves into, and snapped his fingers to open a portal. They shuffled through it together, trying to keep from tripping themselves up in the process.

The portal opened up in a field somewhere; Alec didn’t recognize the place, but he was almost certain it was pretty far from New York. Trees lined the field like watchtowers, stark black against the rosy pink of dawn. It was still mostly dark, but he could see the sun beginning to rise in the distance, where tendrils of light were spreading out from below the horizon like veins. In a corner of the field, just beneath a giant oak, there was an actual sofa, one Alec knew well from Magnus’s apartment. A wicker picnic basket had been set on the ground beside it, alongside two cups of coffee from that café Alec loved.

“Oh my God,” Alec laughed, squeezing Magnus a little tighter. He managed, with a little effort, to turn the warlock around in his arms so they were face-to-face. At this proximity, bound together by the sheet as they were, Magnus was forced to crane his neck to look up at him.

“Breakfast, darling?” he smiled, looking very pleased with himself. He had cause to be pleased, Alec thought. How anyone could be so thoughtful, he didn’t know.

Taking his hand, Magnus finally untangled himself from the sheet and led them to the sofa. They sank into it together, and while Magnus reached down to pick up their coffees, Alec leaned around him to wrap the sheet around them both. They sat curled tightly together, sipping on their drinks, as the sky grew brighter around them and the dawn chorus began in earnest.

It occurred to Alec, when Magnus shuffled down so he could lean his head on his shoulder, that he would sacrifice any amount of sleep for Magnus Bane and his stupid, amazing ideas. In fact, he very much hoped to sacrifice more in the future.

“This is ridiculous,” he said again, repeating what he’d said earlier. “You’re ridiculous.”

His parents would be wondering where he was, when he didn’t turn up for morning training. But as the birdsong around them grew to an aching crescendo, Alec couldn’t bring himself to care. Instead, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Magnus’s coffee-flavoured lips.

 

 

 

 


	2. Natsukashii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsukashii 懐かしい:(adj.) of some small thing that brings you suddenly, joyously back to fond memories, not with a wistful longing for what’s past, but with an appreciation of the good times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I stupidly forgot to mention it last chapter, here's a disclaimer: I own nothing in this fic. The characters and universe belong to Cassandra Clare, while the beautiful definitions of the words come directly from the blogger behind other-wordly.tumblr.com. Everyone check out their blog, if you haven't come across it before!

_Natsukashii_ 懐かしい:( _adj.) of some small thing that brings you suddenly, joyously back to fond memories, not with a wistful longing for what’s past, but with an appreciation of the good times_

 

Magnus watched from the water as Alec wobbled a little on his board.

“I’m going to fall and break my neck. Or maybe fall and get eaten by a shark. This is going to end badly either way.”

Magnus knew Alec would get the hang of it eventually; there wasn’t much trained Nephilim couldn’t do, after all. Smiling, he paddled a little closer to shore, ready to catch or defend his apparently helpless (Shadowhunter) boyfriend if necessary. “Only black-tip sharks around here, darling. They won’t go near you. Give them a whack on the snout with your paddle and you’ll be fine.”

“You,” Alec said, eyes a little wide around the edges as he peered at the water below him, “are so not helping.”

Magnus laughed, and turned his face towards the sun. Behind him Alec cursed and splashed around with his paddle, trying to spin his board without dislodging himself in the process. Magnus decided to let him suffer this indignity in private, beginning to slowly paddle further from shore so that Alec would have ample time to catch up once he collected himself. Mount Agung rose up in the distance, sweeping towards the sky in grey and black and purple. The sky above them was a broad band of blue, stretching unbroken from horizon to horizon.

It was beautiful. _This place_ was beautiful. Magnus still hadn’t asked Alec’s opinion, but he was sure Alexander would appreciate it as much as he did. They’d arrived at three o’clock that morning after a long flight and an even longer drive; Amed, on the whole, wasn’t easy to get to. Magnus had felt that strange cocktail of emotions he always felt when he returned home, or at least, to what once had been home. Part of him always relaxed, the very atmosphere of his homeland soothing away what worries he carried with him. The heat, the sounds, the colours; they were all familiar to him, in ways that sometimes felt like distant memories, but more often soothed him like few things could. Of course, he had spent his childhood in Batavia, scraping together a living in the mud and dirt of the colonial town like every other unwanted child born there. He’d only really begun to explore the islands of his home country when he was much older. Amed was a favourite spot of his; it was remote and lacked the sparkling white beaches of other parts of Bali, but he enjoyed the quiet pace of life here.

He paused to watch a shoal of fish flash past his board, raising his voice a little to ask, “Are you okay? Still standing?”

“Still standing,” Alec confirmed. Magnus turned to take him in; he seemed to be balancing well, and the water droplets from his earlier splashing were doing _wonders_ for his chest and arms. Magnus whistled loudly, revelling in the instant blush this caused.

“I insist, gorgeous, that you remain looking that way for the rest of our trip. Whatever else you do, leave off the shirts. It’s too hot for shirts, to be perfectly honest.”

“Magnus,” Alec sighed, but he smiled in that hopelessly timid way he always did when Magnus leered at him. Counting this as a win, Magnus returned the smile, adding decidedly more lasciviousness than his poor innocent boyfriend was prepared for.

 _Well_ , he thought, acutely aware of the rug burn on his back, _maybe not as innocent as all that._

They had two more weeks in Indonesia. Plenty of time for long nights (and maybe mornings) in bed.

He was thinking dreamily about the silk sheets in their rented hut when Alec’s voice broke through his musings.

“Wow. Look at this place.”

Magnus watched him carefully, drinking in the look of almost awe on his face. “Do you like it?”

“Jesus. Yeah. Of course I do. It’s amazing.” He was gazing at the volcano in the distance, eyes fixed on the wild bursts of colour Magnus had always felt so entranced by. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Well,” Magnus said, paddling slowly alongside him, “it’s a far cry from Brooklyn, I’ll give you that.”

They continued on through the bay, staying as close to shore as they could (Alec wasn’t convinced by Magnus’s promise to defend him from any sharks they encountered). Every so often, shoals of fish would dart through the water below them, disappearing and reappearing more quickly than their eyes could follow. Alec would point at something every once in a while, but otherwise they were silent, paddling noiselessly through the turquoise sea in an aimless direction. 

The sun was beginning to set by the time they turned back to shore.

The dark sand should have been uninviting, but Magnus was starting to feel tired standing; his plans for the rest of the evening, thankfully, didn’t involve being on his feet. As they made their way closer and closer to the sand, a flash of dark green caught his eye: it was a fish of some kind, just beneath his board. It darted away like all the others, mud-green against the vibrant hues of the ocean.

It was an ugly colour, but at that same time, it wasn’t, really. Just unsuited to this place. A memory leaped fresh and startlingly clear into his mind, more a series of images than a coherent recollection: the dark green of the _bulus senggawangan_ , gliding through the _Ciliwung_ of the old town. He’d tried to catch one, once, but it had been wet and slippery, and it had slipped through his fingers like the water it inhabited. He used to sit for hours on the banks of the river, watching the giant creatures swimming past the boats and the river-stones. Hours of quiet solitude, feeling a small, fragile connection with those ugly animals, not as pretty as the others but still swimming, still soldiering on despite everything…

“If you try to push me off I’ll smother you with the mosquito net tonight,” Alec said, concentrating on making it the last few metres to the shore. Magnus tore himself back to reality, blinking in the fading light of the setting sun. Alec looked lovely in the orange glow, ethereal and fierce.

 _That was your past, Magnus,_ he thought to himself, watching Alec’s lean muscles working beneath his skin as he paddled. _But your present is looking pretty good._

He reached forward, already laughing, and shoved Alec off his board into the water.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, leave comments/kudos/whatever if you feel like it.


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